Everyday Canvas

January 10 and 11, 2024

Prompt: Free Day.
Write what you want.

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I think I am going to comment on the sentence that says, "Write what you want."

If given to a seasoned writer, this advice could be empowering and liberating. As to professional writers, they usually like to meet the needs of their clients or audience; therefore, they might think the advice to be not so practical.

I guess, I'll go with why seasoned writers would like to "write what they want." Writing what they want helps writers gain freedom of expression. It gives them the liberty of writing down their thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and in so doing, it allows them to be true to themselves and their own perspectives.

By writing what they want, writers often produce more authentic and sincere work. This is because they are not bound by external constraints or expectations and they can freely explore their own interests and passions. In doing so, this approach encourages creativity and personal satisfaction. And who knows, once in a very rare while, even someone like me can come up with something original.


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Prompt: Have you ever received unexpected nice gifts in the mail? Write about this in your Blog entry today.

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The only unexpected gifts I love that come in the mail are books and stuff that have to do with writing and reading. Most other gifts I like are given to me in person and, rarely if ever, I've received an unexpected gift of any other kind in the mail. This may be partly because the senders of the gifts do not trust the mailing system and they let me know beforehand that they are sending something and they may even name that something.

The nature of an unexpected and unannounced gift has to do with bringing joy and surprise through the mail, regardless of what that gift is. The fact that someone's thinking of me and took the time to send something my way is often more meaningful than the gift itself. Such gifts can become a variety of things, depending on their context, something like a book, a favorite snack, a sentimental item, or a piece of clothing with some meaning attached to it.

Of course, I also receive many other materials in the mail, such as subscriptions, things, or gifts from companies who send promotional stuff that, in general, are unusable. None of these I see as gifts of any kind. Mostly, they don't qualify as surprises or are not usable or they don't have any meaning in my life.

Am I hard to please? I don't think so. But the way I see it, a true surprise gift in the mail should have some emotion connected to it, without any ulterior motive.



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